Annabel Butler
Lady Annabel Butler is a character appearing in the episode Vixen's Run of the ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders. She was the first wife of Sir Freddy Butler and the mother of Richard Butler, whom she raised with Freddy. However, Annabel had a secret; Freddy was not Richard's true father. When this secret was exposed in 2005, Annabel was forced to go to great lengths – even murder – to protect her son. Biography Annabel was raised in Kenya, where she became particularly skilled at shooting, even at very long ranges. By the early 1950s, she had met and married Sir Freddy Butler, thus making her Lady Annabel Butler. They planned to start a family together; the only problem was that Freddy was infertile, and even he wasn't aware of it. In order to give Freddy an heir, Annabel arranged a sexual encounter between herself and Freddy's solicitor and friend, Henry York. This secret liaison took place on 2 June 1953, the same day that Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of England, and as a result of their union, Annabel and Henry conceived Annabel's son Richard. Freddy believed Richard to be his own son through Annabel, and would go on to raise him as such in Haddington House. The true nature of Richard's true parentage would be kept a secret from him, Freddy and the rest of the Butler clan for the next fifty-two years years. During the next five decades, Freddy separated from Annabel and remarried twice; first to Lucinda and then to Lady Tara, who gave birth to a son, Michael. Once again, Freddy was misled to believe that Michael was his son, when he had in fact been conceived by Lady Tara's lover Simon Oliver. Meanwhile, Richard met and married Lady Sandra Butler, although no one else in the family seemed to approve of her. In 2005, Henry York learned that he was dying due to a terminal illness. Not wanting to die without telling Freddy the truth, Henry secretly informed Freddy that Richard was not his true son. Shocked, Freddy confronted Annabel and informed her he would later his will so that upon his death, his estate would be left to Michael, not Richard. Annabel then blurted out that Michael was not a true heir either, and revealed to Freddy that he was always unable to have children. Freddy then returned to Henry and rewrote his will so that it left everything in Freddy's name to his only remaining blood relative; his oddball brother Teddy. Freddie summoned all of his family to Haddington Hall for a dinner, where he planned to announce to them the changes made to his will. Present at the dinner were Lady Annabel, her son Richard, his wife Lady Sandra, Lucinda, her partner Simon, Lady Tara, her son Michael and Freddie's brother Teddy. Before he could make his announcement, however, Sir Freddy Butler dropped dead of a heart attack. This spurred Annabel to ransack Henry York's office in search of Freddy's new will, as no one else was yet aware of its contents. While there, she overheard Henry telling DCI Tom Barnaby that he kept a copy of important documents at his home. Knowing that the publication of the will would leave her son high and dry, and wanting revenge on Henry for betraying their secret, Annabel decided to kill him and destroy the will by setting his house on fire during the night. Henry, his lungs filled with smoke and desperate to escape the fire, died after falling out of his bedroom window. Deciding that if she was going to save her son she may as well go the whole hog, the following night Annabel lay in wait outside of Haddington Hall. Standing in the treeline, she shone a torch into Lady Sandra's room, luring her over to the window. Once Lady Sandra stepped into view, Annabel shot her in the head with a rifle. The following day, during Freddie's wake, Barnaby arrived at Haddington House and exposed the sordid true history of the Butler bloodline. Barnaby also had DC Ben Jones make an appearance with a rifle; not the murder weapon, but one that looked similar enough. Barnaby then went to wait outside, expecting the murderer to reveal themselves. When Lady Annabel emerged, he accused her of the murders of Henry York and Lady Sandra Butler. She laughed them off and also criticized Barnaby's “stunt with the fake gun.” “How did you know it was fake?” Barnaby asked in response. Realizing she'd incriminated herself and the jig was up, Annabel confessed and was arrested by Barnaby. As he drove with her back to Causton, she asked him why hadn't asked her about Freddy's death. Barnaby was surprised by this because he thought Freddy had died of natural causes, but Lady Annbel's question appears to have made him rethink this... Crimes #The murder of Henry York – Trapped inside his cottage while it was set on fire, eventually overcome by fumes and fell from a window on the secret floor while trying to escape. #The murder of Lady Sandra Butler – Shot in the forehead with a rifle from an extremely long range. As mentioned above, the end of Vixen's Run heavily implies that Annabel somehow also caused Sir Freddy Butler's demise, but exactly how this was accomplished is left up to the viewer's imagination. Category:Minor characters Category:Murderer